Lesson 303: "Priests"
We are not our own but have been bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20) and when we become Christians we become holy priests, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1 Pet. 2:5).The tribe of Levi were the priests and first and foremost came the worship. “The Father seeks worshippers to worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23).As worshippers we offer spiritual sacrifices; the adoration of our hearts.Worship is the only thing we can give to God directly and the one thing we must offer to Him freely. He will not “take it” from us.God can get anyone to serve Him if He wants, in fact, Satan is one of His busiest servants and God has used him for many purposes to further His plan for His people (Job 1, Luke 22:31).But Satan cannot worship God, only true believers can and true believers are those who know and love our Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Priests in the Old Testament got the best of everything including the shoulder and the breast of the meat offerings (Lev. 10:15).Those two pieces illustrate that the love of God (the breast) and the power of God (shoulder) were the food and the strength of the worshipping believer, the priests.Priests are not only worshippers but intercessors.As Christ, our Great High Priest intercedes for us in heaven, so we on earth intercede for others (2 Tim. 2:1).Priests carried the Ark, holding it on their shoulders and we, as spiritual priests, hold up Christ of which the Ark was a type or a shadow.The Priests blew trumpets before the Ark as they marched around Jericho, calling attention to the Ark and the presence of God just as we priests uphold Christ and we blow the “gospel trumpet” and call men’s attention to Christ and His free gift of salvation.The priests of old carried the sin of the people on their hearts (Lev. 10:17) and we are to bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).Believers-priests present our bodies as living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1); our time, our talents, our labor and everything we “temporarily” possess and God is well pleased (Heb. 13:16).Everything on the earth and including the earth belongs to God and it is true worship to yield them gladly in His service.
Compare Exodus 30:18-21 to John 13:10 and that we, just as the priests under the old covenant were cleansed by “blood” and only hands and feet were to be washed to represent that we/they were to be clean and pure to come before God.The command from God concerning the ones, including the priests, who could not enter into the curtain/Christ or the altar/Throne of God with blemishes, is spelled out in Lev. 21:17-23.Needless to say these things now have their spiritual meaning for us.No physical deformity today bars a believer from living for and serving the Lord.The things mentioned above speak of spiritual blemishes.A blind man speaks of one who is spiritually blind and does not see the wonderful truth of the Word. A lame one is he whose life is not right.The one with a flat nose speaks of a believer who has no spiritual discernment. A crooked back is one whose life is not upright or straight or righteous. A dwarf now is one who has never grown in grace and in the knowledge of Christ.In simple words, a Christian, IF he is to serve God must see to it that his life is right with God and to do this we must walk with God and live for Christ, letting Christ live within us and the Holy Spirit guide us.
The first mention of “priesthood” is found in Exodus 19:5-6 when God gave the law to the nation of Israel and addressed them as follows:“Now IF you obey me FULLY and keep my covenant then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”.Since this promise and honor depended on the full obedience of the Israelites it never materialized because as you well know, the Israelites did not obey His voice nor did they keep His laws.Therefore the entire nation did not become a priesthood but God chose one family, the family of Aaron from the tribe of Levi as a special priesthood (Ex. 28:1-5).The New Testament tells us that was known as the Levitical priesthood because of the tribe of Levi (Heb. 7:11).Aaron was its first High Priest (Heb. 5:4) but upon the Death of Christ Jesus a change was made (Heb. 7:12).Another Priest arose (Heb. 7:11), after a new order; the order of Melchizedek.Christ is the Head of our Spiritual Priesthood as this was dramatically illustrated when Jesus stood before Caiaphas (Matt. 26:57-65).
Two priests stood facing each other, one the Levitical priest and the other, Heaven’s Great High Priest.When Caiaphas charged Jesus under oath to say He was the Son of God and Jesus answered; “yes, it is as you say” (Matt. 26:64), Caiaphas tore his clothes and by Jewish law, he was forbidden to do so (Lev. 21:10).With this act he automatically lost his job and rightly so, for, though he did not realize it, the new High Priest was standing before Him and was to succeed and supersede him.All the earthly priests died but Jesus lives forever and has a permanent Priesthood.He is holy and blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted about the heavens.He sacrificed for our sins once for all when He offered Himself upon the Cross (Heb. 7:22-28).The priesthood of a nation of Israel was dependent upon “if” but being a priest today is only dependent on the obedience of Jesus Christ (Phil. 2:8), and our faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior.1 Peter 2:4-5 does not have an “if” but states that all believers form a holy and a royal priesthood.It is a great privilege and responsibility to be a priest for God, filled with joys and blessings.Don’t rob yourself of it!